(no subject)
If you have ever found yourself in a situation where you’re communicating with a native chatspeaker, you may have come across acronyms, the meanings of which may or may not have evaded you. Since the inception of instant messaging, the language of the internet has evolved into its own often confusing monster. Some acronyms have withstood the test of time (lol, brb), while other more antiquated terms have fallen out of use except by the occasional Myspace user who is still stuck in the 90s (“u r my bff… lylas!”).
A typical group chat conversation may go something like this:
Problemsleuth69: JFC that monster was terrifying
OldzioAuditore: NOPE. DNW. holy crap
Problemsleuth69: right? I mean WTF where did it even come from
OldzioAuditore: brb crying
CommShepardN7: lmfao u guys are total wimps. JSYK.
OldzioAuditore: That’s not what ur mom said last night.
Problemsleuth69: haha pwned
CommShepardN7: GTFO.
If you already talk like this, kudos - you’ve graduated to the level of all the other internet nerds; just don’t start using these terms on your next English exam.
If you have no clue what the $#(% is going on in this mock scenario, I’ve compiled a starter list of chat acronyms below:
AFK - away from keyboard
ASAP - as soon as possible
BTW - by the way
BRB - be right back
BBL - be back later
DNW - do not want.
GPOY - gratuitous picture of yourself
GTFO - get the F*ck out
ILU - I love you
IMO/IMHO - in my (humble) opinion
JFC - Jesus F*cking Christ
J/K - just kidding
JSYK - just so you know
LMFAO - laughing my f*cking ass off
POV - point of view
PWNED - completely destroyed/beaten/owned, usually in a video game
STFU - shut the f*ck up
TX/THX - thanks
TMI - too much information
TTFN - ta ta for now
TTYL - talk to you later
WTH - what the hell
WTF - what the F*ck
There are plenty more acronyms, but this should offer a decent start. =)